Recommended reading, vol. 2

A suburban renaissance? — Co

In about 2018, the major third-party delivery companies has a lock on most cities across the country. Until then, every time DoorDash or Uber Eats expanded to a new location, they issued a press release updating their total coverage area in what felt like a coast-to-coast race. But once they had densely populated urban areas on lock, they started to expand to the suburbs. And today, third-party delivery service is literally everywhere in America, and emerging, trendy, high-growth restaurant chains are taking note, too. Here’s a decent primer on how the buzziest fast-casual chains, including Sweetgreen and Cava, are expanding to suburban markets with storefronts that look more at home in a strip mall than an urban streetscape.

Montana has more cows than people. Why are locals eating beef from Brazil? — New York Times

Just one percent of Montana’s beef is purchased by locals, according to estimates. That’s because four dominant meatpackers control the commodity in the country and it’s nearly impossible to break in as an independent rancher.

Is asking consumers to spend more on coffee just trickle-down economics? — Bossbarista

Another great piece from Ashley Rodriguez about why charging customers more for coffee doesn’t necessarily translate to higher pay for coffee farmers.

Restaurant prices are still going up; grocery prices are leveling off. — CNN

Inflation data released earlier this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows menu prices are up about half of a percentage point from April to May; grocery prices stayed flat. In the last 12 months, grocery prices have gone up one percent while restaurant menu prices have increased 3.5 percent at full-service restaurants and 4.5 percent at limited-service restaurants, which includes fast food.

No wonder McDonald’s is competing on value. — Restaurant Business

In the company’s latest earnings call, its CEO promised consistent value messaging this year; now it’s kicked off the program with a $5 burger/nugget/chicken sandwich combo deal. So how much longer until this narrative turns to “value wars” … and is it just a race to the bottom?

Umm… do we want to live in a world where booking an “air taxi” is as easy as hailing an Uber? — Axios

Trick question, because apparently it’s coming soon!

Where to eat? At the bar! — New York Times

Duh. I’m not mad that we’re still writing about the best seats in the house.

Zepto, a 10-minute delivery app in India, just raised $665 million at a $3.6 billion valuation. — TechCrunch

It’s valuation has more than doubled in less than a year. Is this really still a thing?! Per TechCrunch, the ultrafast delivery market is thriving in India even though it doesn’t seem to be working well in most other places.

Why aren’t there clocks in restaurants? — The Supersonic

There are many reasons, but this is my favorite take: ““Clocks are a great way to mainline anxiety,” according to Eli Feldman owner of Boston’s Shy Bird restaurants. (The Magician in New York, the official bar of my 20s, had a giant clock above the door. It almost never displayed the correct time.)

Prolific amateur food photographers beware. Minor Photoshop edits trigger a “created with AI” label on Instagram. — Designboom

While technically this is true — many common photo-retouching and enhancing tools could be considered AI — it’s an example of how broad consumer understanding of what the tech can do doesn’t square with Instagram’s more… technical definition.